


A Ditty In Denver

by Erif_Of_Taloma



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV), White Collar
Genre: Covert Operation, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Deviates From Canon, Early in Canon, Gen, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, covert operation interuption, i dont even know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 03:17:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4043815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erif_Of_Taloma/pseuds/Erif_Of_Taloma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One bar, two cases, three concerned agents from New York, four names that may or may not be aliases, five mentions of a man with a hat before they learn his name, six concerned agents from Denver, and seven mentions of the bad guy who only appears once. All in all, when you send a con man undercover in a unfamiliar city, don't be surprised when nothing goes to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Ditty In Denver

**Author's Note:**

> Right. So, I don't know what I'm doing. I stopped watching White Collar around the beginning of Season 3 or somewhere around there and barely kept up with what was going on in the plot afterwards. I have never seen the Magnificent Seven, but I fell in love with the ATF AU years ago after reading a different crossover and was honestly disappointment to learn that it was originally a Western and not in fact a crime drama. Yet this idea came to me then and has persisted through the years until finally coming together in a cohesive story a few days ago. Anyways here's hoping I managed to do the characters justice and I hope y'all like it.
> 
> Warnings: Language, possible Out of Character moments, and random references to other fandoms that the Audience may not understand. Set after Kate's death in White Collar and at sometime in the Magnificent Seven ATF AU.
> 
> Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. I simply play with them for my, and your amusement. The Magnificent Seven ATF AU was created by MOG. Thank you ever so much for the wonderful stories.
> 
> This can also be found on Fanfiction.net under the same title, though I go by Kneoria there.

Rule one of any con was to not break character. It was a rule that Neal Caffrey had down pat. Well most of the time at least. There were a very few things in the world that could distract Neal Caffrey from a con; this unfortunately was one of them. Sure he had seen the signs advertising that a Elsa Sutton was singing at the Loft but while he knew the name he didn't actually expect for the person in question to actually be the one he knew. After all, Ezra Standish had declared that alias retired when they had run into each other in New Mexico approximately eight years ago. It was then that Neal had cut off contact as his friend had just started what appeared to be a promising career in Atlanta with the FBI, which was why it was such a shock to see him disguised again as Elsa up on the stage.

"Neal, Focus!" came the voice of Peter Burke, his handler at the FBI in his ear and Neal covered up his reaction with a sip of his Pinot Noir. "I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is you can't let it distract you. We have a job to do."

He was slightly tempted to roll his eyes but one slip a night was enough. They really couldn't afford to blow this con seeing as no one was terribly comfortable letting Neal out of New York City, even to catch a group of money launderers. Neal had just started to figure out a smart retort when he was interrupted mid-thought by a rich voice addressing him, "Nathan Cassatt?"

 _Showtime._ Neal turned to look at the well dressed, albeit slightly overweight man who had addressed him. "Mr. Bradley Whitaker, I presume?" he asked. At the nod, Neal indicated the seat next to him at the bar. "Its nice to finally meet you, and please, call me Nate." 

* * *

 

"Chris, we got a problem," came Buck Wilmington's voice over the coms.

"What's going on?" Christopher Larabee, leader of Denver ATF Team 7 demanded to know.

"Bradley Whitaker is here."

"What?"

"I said Bradley Whitaker is here"

"Yeah and I heard you the first time Buck. What the fuck is he doing there?"

"Talking to some guy with a hat."

"How is he involved in this?"

"Don't know how he's involved. He's a money launderer though. Maybe he's the one supplying the cash" came the soft Texas drawl of Vin Tanner.

"Recognize the Guy in the Hat?"

"No." Was Vin's short reply.

"Can you hear anything?"

"Nope, and the mike won't be able to pick up anything either; not without someone moving in closer which would look suspicious." Buck replied

"Right. Don't blow anything, but keep me updated"

"You got it, Cowboy"

"And don't call me a cowboy!"

* * *

 

Neal smiled as he listened to the last song of the night while finishing his wine. Everything had gone perfectly and Whitaker had left 15 minutes ago. Peter had given him the rest of the hour to finish up so that it wouldn't look suspicious. Neal planned to enjoy every minute of it. After all, it wasn't every day he was allowed to enjoy good wine and music on the FBI's dime. Movement from behind him caused him to turn slightly and internally wince as two tough types in cheap ill fitting suits got up from the corner table at which they had been lurking and moved towards the performance area of the room. Judging by body language and the speed at which they were moving towards Ezra Standish, someone had been taken in by the act and wanted a private performance from Elsa Sutton. That had always been Ezra's problem; he was just too good at the whole torch singer act or any other part he cared to play.

Taking another look at the room, Neal realized that he would have to get involved. Ezra's backup, wherever they were, clearly hadn't noticed the situation. Well, he mused, if working with the FBI had taught him anything was that it took a con to spot a con. He just hoped that Ezra remembered his suit, as it was something the pair had decided that it was only a style that Nathan Cassatt would wear when they had jokingly created this persona in high school. Swallowing the last sip of his wine, Neal absentmindedly picked up his hat backwards. Without thinking about it, he rolled the hat over his fingers by the brim, so that it was the right way around before placing it on his head. Once done, Neal started moving in an attempt to reach the stage before the other two men got there.

* * *

 

"He's movin' towards the stage" Buck said as he watched the man saunter purposefully across the room. The hat trick he had performed before placing it on his head was interesting though. It was smoothly done and well practiced; as if the man himself hadn't even noticed that he had done it.

"Who's moving?" Chris asked over the coms.

"The guy in the hat, the one that Whitaker was talking to. Hey JD, didja' find out who he was?"

"Nope" came the young voice of John Daniel 'JD' Dunne. "The description was good but not enough. I'm going to need a photo to find anything useful. If you can get me one…" He stopped mid-sentence. "Never mind, thanks Vin."

Buck looked at his table mate in astonishment. "When did you take that photo?" he demanded, as Vin just looked at him and moved to put his phone back into his pocket. "I didn't even notice you move for your phone!" Buck looked at Vin suspiciously. "Have you been taking lessons from Ez or somethin'?" Buck questioned.

"Welcome JD" Vin said ignoring Buck in favor of turning back towards the room. Something wasn't right. "Who's that he's following?"

"You mean the guys in the cheap suits?"

"They weren't here when he was talking to Whitaker."

"His backup, maybe?"

"Nah. He's trying to cut them off" Vin mused. "What do they want with Ez?"

Buck shrugged. "That's two separate parties interested in Ez, and neither of them seem to be who we are looking for."

"I don't like this" Chris said abruptly. "Get ready to move and watch his back."

* * *

 Neal had failed to cut off the two goons but that didn't matter much. There were several ways to play this and he continued on towards the raised platform of the stage. He snickered internally, at the two goons when they stopped at the edge looking uncomfortable. Clearly whoever they worked for didn't want "Elsa" hurt or scared and they weren't sure how to handle it. There was the start of movement from a corner table that Neal noted but didn't bother to look at. It looked like Ezra's backup had finally woken up. He glanced at the slightly raised platform that was serving as a stage. Ezra didn't seem aware of the situation, but first appearances never meant much of anything especially for someone with his talents. Neal knew this because he was much the same. For a moment, he wondered if this was something he really ought to be doing. For all he knew, he could be interrupting some sort of sting operation and he honestly didn't know how he was going to explain it to Peter who, no doubt, would have something to say when he realized what Neal was doing. Ah well, to late to turn back now, he thought as one of the men stepped forward to grab Ezra by the arm.

"Elsa?" Neal asked as he brushed past the man, murmuring pardon as he went, placing himself in front of them. "Elsa Sutton?" he asked, continuing his movement as if to get out of the glare of the stage lights. He took a few more steps so that he ended up standing off to the side with his back towards _her_ backup and out of reach of the two goons should they notice their missing wallets or otherwise take offence. He smiled softly, "I thought it was you!"

Ezra looked back at him from where he had been stowing the microphone _she_ had used, and if Neal hadn't known who _she_ really was even he would have been fooled. _Her_ eyes lit upon on him and then widened in recognition. Giving a showy gasp, _she_ said in a breathy alto "Nathan? Is that really you?"

His smile widened, but let his eyes flick to the left to the confused goons. It was a poor signal, but it would have to do. "It really is."

"Neal what are you doing?" came Peter's voice in his ear again. He had been wondering when Peter was going to say something. "We got what we needed, and your hour is almost up."

Peter was ignored as Ezra let out a high happy sounding squee and launched _herself_ off the platform to give him a hug. Neal just laughed and spun his friend around keeping up the act of two people recently reunited. Once he set _her_ down she asked rather breathlessly "When did you leave New York?"

"Never did. Still live there. I'm just in town for a few days. When did you leave New Mexico?" he asked mentioning the last place he had actually seen the Elsa persona.

"Oh quite a while ago actually. Six or seven years maybe?"

Neal nodded and drew back to take another look at his friend "Sounds like we have a lot to catch up on. May I buy you dinner?"

"Honey, you can take me to dinner anytime" _She_ said taking his arm as they walked towards the door. It took all of his concentration not to laugh at the dumbfounded looks on both the goon's and the backup's faces. Glancing at his friend who was hanging onto his arm, _she_ was having a similar problem.

* * *

 There was a strange slightly shocked silence as the agents looked at each other. It was broken when Chris spat out "Please tell me that didn't happen."

"Sorry Partner" Buck said. "As someone who saw it, that happened."

"Great" Chris sighed. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue." The silence returned.

"He knows who the man in the hat is" Chris said aloud.

"Know what's worse?" Buck offered after a minute.

Chris didn't really but Buck would most likely tell him anyways "What?"

"It sounds like they are friends. Good friends. Really good friends even. Ezra actually squealed. I didn't know he could even make a noise like that."

"I didn't ever need to know he could make a noise like that. It's mildly disturbing" Chris said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What's mildly disturbing?" JD asked, sliding one of the headsets half off of his head to hear the other conversation better.

"The fact that Ezra knows who the man in the hat is and didn't tell us" Chris summed up for the other agent.

"Well, I agree with the latter. I doubt Ez knew anything 'bout it cause he would have mentioned it and I can help out in regards to the former" JD said turning to face his team leader.

"What?" Chris asked

"Nathan Cassatt."

He sighed. "And who's that JD?"

"The Man in the Hat as you guys are calling him. I found him. His name is Nathan Cassatt out of New York City. He owns a business that specializes in finding and selling rare luxury items to people."

"So he's most likely a fence" Vin said over the coms

"That's what Josiah guessed when I sent him the information so he could start creating a profile. Oh and Nathan wanted to know if we knew where this identity of Ezra's even came from. He said something about it being a little too complete?"

There was a silence as the men thought about it. Finally Chris answered "It was in the system and Ezra said he could pull it off. Where's Nathan going with this?"

JD shrugged, "I dunno, but I bet he's wondering where Ez met a fence."

"We'll ask later" Chris promised and the van fell silent as the conversation between their undercover man and the man who appeared to be a fence began anew.

* * *

 "Its good to see you again Elsa" Neal said as they stepped out of the elevator into a spacious marble lobby.

"And you Nathan." The twinkle in Ezra's eyes was present again as they made their way outside. It had been too long since they had spoken Ezra mused. There was a tightness about his friend now that hadn't been there the last time they'd met. Coupled with the fact that Neal was using this specific alias, the way he was walking, and how the lines of one of his pant legs was slightly messed up, it was easy to conclude something big had happened.

"I go by Nate now" Neal offered to start conversation while holding open the door. He knew Peter was listening. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if Ezra was wearing a wire as well.

"Nate it is then." _She_ paused then said wickedly, "You mentioned dinner?" At his nod Ezra continued, "Wonderful. I know this lovely little Italian place a block and a half away from here. Shall we?"

Neal smiled back at him and offered his arm again as they began their walk "You know me too well."

"I do, indeed. So what brings you to Denver?"

"Business actually. Do you remember Stanley Finch?" There was a frown which Neal took note of but Ezra did nod in agreement. It was nice to see that he remembered the old code phrases. "Well, he commissioned me to find him a variety of items. It's a four year deal so I've been keeping busy."

"Ah." Well that certainly was revealing. Stanley Finch had been their code name for the FBI. For Neal to say he had been hired by Stanley meant he was now working for the FBI. Despite Neal cutting off contact all those years ago Ezra had kept an eye out for his friend and knew that he had become a thief and a forger. He had probably gotten caught at some point then and this was part of a deal as there was no way the man Ezra remembered would work for the FBI willingly. He hummed then a teasing lilt entered his voice "And what does your fiancée think of that?" Neal flinched and Ezra frowned asking "Nate?"

There was silence. "Nothing" he said finally albeit a little brokenly. "She doesn't think anything of it. She died, Elsa."

"Oh, Nate…" Ezra frowned. That certainly explained the tension but gave more questions than answers in regards to the rest of it. "I'm so sorry" he said giving his friend an impromptu hug that Neal surprisingly returned.

They stayed like that for a moment or so then Neal pulled away. " 'Tsall right. You didn't know. Nothing to be done about it."

"Still, I'm sorry."

"Its ok. I'm surprised Stanley didn't tell you that he had hired me. Did something happen between the two of you?

"Sort of." Ezra shook his head letting distaste color his features. "We had a falling out a few years ago after he started insinuating things about Ma. But I found out that Elliot lives up here. We talk a lot."

"Eliot?" Neal questioned, looking sidelong at his friend.

"Honestly Nate. Don't you remember Eliot Ness?"

"Ah." Well Neal thought. That was something he had never expected. Ezra had just revealed that his mother had messed up things for him at the FBI and he was now working with the ATF. "I never knew him that well. He a good guy?"

"Better than Stanley. Oh look, we're here."

Neal strode forward and held open the door. "After you then."

* * *

 "What the hell is he doing?" Peter growled as he paced in the hotel room that served as their command post.

"Sounds like he's catching up with a friend," remarked Clinton Jones

"Yeah, I heard that. Why does he have friends in Denver? Did you know he had friends in Denver? Neal's never been to Denver." He paused, "At least I think he's never been in Denver."

"He mentioned something about New Mexico" Diana offered from where she was seated at the desk.

"Right, and she doesn't sound familiar either. Run a search on Elsa Sutton from New Mexico. I want to know who she is and why I didn't know about her."

"Got it."

"Jones keep monitoring the feed. Maybe he'll give us something to work with."

"And you boss?"

"I'm going call as soon as there's a good opportunity and find out what his angle is."

* * *

 "What the hell is he doing?" Chris asked glowering at the equipment in his van as if he could intimidate it into revealing the workings of the mind of his undercover agent.

"It still sounds like he's catching up with a friend," JD offered

"Seemed like more than a friend to me" Buck said clambering in the van, Vin following closely behind. "Especially after that greeting. Granted I can't tell if Ez swings that way or if he's just acting."

"Don't think Ezra's flirting on purpose" Vin said. "Think it's the character he's playin'."

"I don't think Cassatt is interested either" Chris said.

"Why not?"

"Look at his reaction to Ezra's question. He's still grieving," came the short answer. "That's not something you get over that fast. I'm hoping Ezra is playing some sort of angle." A murmur of agreement ran through the van. No one wanted to know what would happen if he wasn't. The silence was broken by a phone going off. "Hello?"

"Chris, isn't Ezra supposed to be undercover?" asked Nathan Jackson.

Chris's eyes widened in understanding. "You're on a date with Raine and you took her to the Italian restaurant off of 6th, didn't you?"

Nathan sounded suspicious, "How do you know that?"

"Because Ezra actually is undercover and should be attempting to figure out what exactly a New York fence is doing in our city talking to one of our suspects" he paused. "If it makes you feel better, I don't think he knew you were going to be there. Don't interrupt your date but keep an eye on him?"

"Sure. So the hat guy JD was talking about is a fence?" Nathan asked.

"Seems that way" Chris said.

"Great. I'll keep an eye on him." There was a soft mutter of, "Raine is going to kill me" then a click as Nathan hung up.

"Well" Chris said looking at his phone, "I suppose we've got eyes in there if things go south."

"That's good" Buck said as he moved to take his place at the listening station. Chris hadn't looked away from his phone. "Chris? Somethin' on your mind?"

"I need to call him."

"What?"

"Ezra. I need to call him. I need to know what he's doing, and tip him off that we've identified Cassatt as a person of interest in the investigation."

"Then why are you hesitating?"

"It doesn't feel right. They know each other Buck. Hell, that's the happiest I've heard him, ever. I can't even tell if he's faking attraction for information or if he really likes the guy."

"That's his Job," Vin offered from where he was sitting. "But Ez, he ain't faking being happy. Whoever Cassatt is or was, he's Ez's friend. Something ain't right 'bout this whole situation; least you can do is give Ez a warning."

Buck raised an eyebrow. Vin was correct, things weren't adding up. Even more confusing was apparently Vin had gotten close with the closed off Southerner. When had that happened? "I agree with Junior over there. Either way, Ezra isn't going to like this. You might as well give him a heads up on the direction the investigation is going." He paused to take stock of the conversation coming from the wire. "Now seems as good of a time as any. They're talking about Architecture in 16th century Venice or som'at."

"Right then" Chris said. "Time to find out what's going on."

* * *

 The restaurant was cozy but Neal noted that the prices were reasonable enough that Peter wouldn't be able to complain. It smelled heavenly. They were seated quickly and after a few comments about apparent Italian food favorites the conversation turned to places and styles in architecture. Yet it was fairly obvious to Neal that this was not what Ezra wanted to be talking about now. He too had known Kate but their code was nowhere near developed enough to talk about something of that magnitude, especially as both of them were wearing wires. Nothing more of importance would be said until the both of them had ditched the hardware or at least had the freedom to place the microphones in a separate room. Otherwise they'd have to wait until someone on the other end of the line got bored of conversation and decided to call; though how anyone could get bored of an honest discussion on 16th century architecture was beyond Neal.

The conversation was cut off as the waiter arrived to take their drink orders. As soon as the waiter left there was an awkward pause broken by a soft set of wind chime sounds. Neal looked at his companion who pulled out a slim sleek phone and looked at the number on the screen.

"I need to take this" _She_ said pushing her chair back and heading down the hall towards the bathroom. "Order for me?" She called over her shoulder as she answered the phone.

"Sure. Take your time" Neal said sipping his water. It was good that Ezra needed privacy for his call as this would give Peter a chance to get in touch with him anyways. Neal could almost feel his need to touch base even though he was in a hotel room over a mile away. It didn't take long. Ezra had barely walked off before his own phone began to ring. Not that it rang for long as Neal picked it up before the first ring could be completed.

"Yes?"

"Neal, what the hell are you doing?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

"What?"

"I'm catching up with an old friend whom I lost touch with years ago, and to answer your next question, no I did not know that she now lives in Denver."

"That wasn't going to be my next question. I was going to ask how long you had known her."

"She's a friend from before, Peter."

"Before what?"

"Before everything" Neal frowned at the phone. He didn't know why he had answered that truthfully. It astonished him how much he trusted Peter some days. "Look, I have a favor to ask."

"Am I going to regret it?"

"Honestly?" Neal said "I'm not sure."

"Right. What is it?"

"Can you turn off the wire?"

"Why?"

Neal sighed and ran his hand through his hair wishing he was somewhere other than a restaurant. "She knew Kate. They were friends." And they had been before Ezra had gone off to join the FBI. "I have to…I need to…" he couldn't finish.

Luckily Peter came to the incorrect conclusion that Neal was trying to lead him to. "You're finally going to mourn her. I can turn it off for that, but the tracker stays on."

Neal smiled. It was nice when things went to plan. "If you must. You do know this means I'm probably not coming back tonight, yes?"

"I don't want to know. No really, I don't want to know. Just let me know where to pick you up tomorrow morning. Have a good night Neal."

* * *

"Yes Chris?"

"Nathan's sitting three tables down from you in case you need backup."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh dear, I thought that was him I saw. Have I disturbed his date?" he asked mildly.

"He's not too happy with you but dammint Ezra take this seriously. The man you're talking to, Nathan Cassatt, is dangerous."

Ezra scoffed. "Anyone can be dangerous Mr. Larabee. However, Nate is no threat. Not to me at least. But out of curiosity, why would you think so?"

"You didn't see who he was talking to before he approached you?"

"You mean before he prevented a situation that I would have been hard pressed to get out of without starting an altercation thus blowing my cover?"

"He did what? No, tell me later. He was talking to Bradley Whitaker."

"Well then he's definitely made some perilous contacts since I saw him last but I wish to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that Nate would never put me in any jeopardy" Ezra paused. How could he word this? Suddenly an idea struck him. "Look, I'll inquire about Mr. Whitaker if that's what is worrying you. I just ask you cease the surveillance."

"What? Ezra, I can't do that."

"You can if you classify him as one of my confidential informants."

"What?"

"I'm telling you he's now officially an informant. Let me handle this."

"I don't like it. You've got to give me more than that."

"Fine. You heard what he said about his fiancée?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew her as well. The three of us were rather close friends. I need to know what happened Chris and I most assuredly do not want an audience for that conversation."

There was a grumble then a muttered "Fine! But you had better figure out what he's doing with Whitaker and I want you to give me your report in person, as yourself, at the Saloon at 6 A.M. tomorrow" Chris took slight satisfaction in the fact that Ezra couldn't protest the time without blowing his cover.

"Fine" came the huffy response over the phone. Chris smiled as he hung up and turned to look at the rest of the people in the van.

"Everything ok?" Buck asked.

"Turn it off boys. We're not going to get anything else tonight."

"But what about?" JD said as Chris cut him off.

"Ez asked us to trust him and said to treat this as a meeting with an informant so that's what we're going to do. Problems?"

"Naw" JD said, "that means I get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight."

Buck rolled his eyes, "All that means is he'll go to sleep at one instead of three."

"I don't care when you sleep but I'm meeting Ezra at the saloon by 6 A.M. tomorrow."

* * *

 After hearing nothing from Neal for several hours Peter had been relieved to receive a simple text message containing an address and an invitation for breakfast. The fact that Neal had invited him for breakfast implied that he might actually get some answers that he hadn't been able to last night. The address turned out to be that of a bar and grill restaurant attached to a small hotel which explained why it was open this early in the morning.

Parking the car, Peter walked towards the door taking note of the other people in the vicinity. There were two men in a car having what looked to be an animated conversation. Another three were getting out of a plain white van and there was a guy over by the dumpster apparently just finishing a cigarette. That was an awful lot of people for this time in the morning. One of the three exiting the van was dressed completely in black and looked slightly familiar, but Peter put it out of his mind. He was glad he'd arranged for the rest of the team to arrive separately.

Stepping inside he found the restaurant mostly deserted likely due to the early hour of the morning. After looking around for a moment he spotted Neal reading a newspaper while sitting next to a well dressed, dark haired, green eyed man, who appeared as if he would fall asleep at any moment. Peter stood there slightly confused. Neal had left the bar with a woman last night, hadn't he? Behind him the door opened again. He glanced back and saw the familiar looking man from the parking lot enter without his companions from the van. What really caught his attention though was the not so quiet mutter of "What the hell?"

It was the motion coupled with the voice that apparently caught Neal's attention and he looked up from his paper though Peter would bet that Neal had known they were there from the moment he had walked in the door. He flashed a slightly smug smile that set Peter's teeth on edge. Neal then nudged the man next to him causing him to look up from his cup of coffee. The green-eyed man glanced at Neal and then focused on the man in black standing in the doorway. An eerily similar smile appeared on the green eyed man's face. That was enough for Peter. Striding forward he exclaimed, "Damn it Neal!"

At the exact same time the man in black behind him did the same only saying "Damn it Ezra!"

Peter turned to look at the other man in shock. This caused both Neal and his friend to trade looks of their own and start laughing. Huffing out a long-suffering sigh Peter walked over to the table snagging a chair as he went, "I don't see what's so funny about all this Neal."

Neal, for his part, was completely unrepentant, "Then I'm not going to explain it."

"Please don't. I don't think I want to know. I do however want to know who he," he pointed at the green eyed man who still did not appear to be very alert, "is, and who he," gesturing to the man in black who was only a step or so behind him "is, why there's a five man backup team in the parking lot and what the heck they have to do with the woman you left the bar with last night!"

There was laughing again, but this time it wasn't only from Neal. "You may want to sit down, gentlemen" came a thick southern voice from the man next to Neal. "It is rather important."

Peter rolled his eyes as the other man made to comply. "Neal, what's going on?"

The gruff sounding man in black spoke again, "That's what I would like to know. Ezra?"

There was silence for a moment as everyone settled then Neal leaned forward in an attempt to convey seriousness. Peter internally groaned. Neal was never serious. "All right then," Neal began, "FBI Agent Peter Burke I would like to introduce you to my friend ATF Agent Ezra Standish. The gentlemen in the parking lot are the rest of Denver ATF Team 7. You are currently sitting next to their team leader, Chris Larabee." He paused to take a breath but before he could go on Neal was interrupted by the man whom he called Ezra.

"Neal it is entirely to early for me to indulge your overly refined sense of the dramatic."

That caused a snort from the ATF agent sitting next to him and Peter turned slightly trying to get a better read on the man whom he knew only by reputation. Currently he appeared more relaxed than the stories portrayed him but Peter had seen his demeanor just a few moments before. The man seemed to be able to project a relaxed vibe even when he had to be wound as tight as a spring.

"That's rich, Ezra especially coming from you," Mr. Larabee commented dryly.

"None the less it is the truth," Ezra continued undeterred by his team leader's derision. "The incipient altercation that caused Neal to…"

He was interrupted suddenly by Agent Larabee, "Neal? I thought your name was Nathan?"

Neal's smirk grew wider but before he could get going Peter cut him off. If he let Neal introduce himself they would be here all day. "Its nice to meet you Agent Larabee. As Neal said I'm FBI Agent Peter Burke and he is Neal Caffrey my CI. You might know him better as James Bonds."

Larabee nodded. "Right. Good to know. Now why the hell are we here at the same time?"

"If you gentlemen are done," Ezra drawled, "I shall continue to explain." There was a pause, "You two are here at the same time due to the respective nature of each of our investigations. The attempted abduction of Elsa which lead to my encounter with Neal last night was the direct result of an overactive libido on the part of the missing middleman in both of our cases."

Peter eyeballed the agent sitting across from him. He didn't look like anyone that they had seen in the club the previous night. His reaction to the words did not go unnoticed and Neal started laughing again.

Ezra appeared to change the direction of his narrative. "Understand, Agent Burke I am an undercover operative. If the role is convincing, I can play it. Male, female, it does not matter."

Peter gaped, "You mean to tell me that you are Elsa Sutton?"

"Yes. Now may I get on with this?"

"Please," Agent Larabee said though he too was trying to smother a smile.

"As I said, my encounter with Neal last night lead us to the discovery that what we believed to be separate investigations are now no longer such. Your thieves," Ezra pointed at Peter "Are stealing and selling art alongside various other valuables and selling them to a man named Bradley Whitaker whom we," he gestured towards his boss, "know to be a laundering money presumably through the sale and purchase of art. He is working for a group of gangs who have seen a sudden increase in the amount of automatic weapons that they have access to in these past few months and their respective arms dealers. Unless we can overcome the traditional inter-agency jurisdictional squabbling that is bound to ensue once our respective superiors learn of the situation, both investigations are bound to run into each other exponentially increasing the risk that both end in catastrophe." With his piece said, Ezra leaned back into his chair and took a sip of coffee looking rather calm for a man who had just dumped an unholy mess into the two senior agents laps.

Speaking of messes and catastrophes, Peter thought, there was still a five man back up team in the parking lot and with the way his luck appeared to be turning his team would show up early. He swiftly turned to look at Agent Larabee who was also sporting a look of awkward realization. "Shit!" they both cursed simultaneously and pushed back from the table. Peter reached into his pocket for his phone while Agent Larabee strode to the door. Peter spared a glance back over his shoulder as he hit speed dial and started moving towards the door only to see Neal and Ezra smirk at one another.

As he made it to the door he heard Neal say, "Well, it's nice to see you haven't lost your love of discord."

"Nope, still got it," was the amused reply.

Peter groaned as he exited, hoping beyond hope that Diana would pick up. The remainder of this case was going to be a mess.

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so that was A Ditty in Denver. I know the title doesn't really fit the entirety of the fic but I like alliteration. Many, many, many thanks to Ktwontwo for beta reading this and generally putting up with my nonsense that often results in the creation of plot bunnies. This is a oneshot, and I currently have no intention of writing out the rest of the case, so if someone else wants to, let me know. Yeah, so, that's all folks. Thanks for stopping by.


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